Posts By Donna Criswell

About Donna Criswell

I was recently introduced to an exciting site called Tagxedo. This site takes Wordle to a whole new level (http:// www.tagxedo.com/) You can create word clouds in the shape or image of different items. There is a gallery with numerous examples such as famous people’s silhouettes, animals, states, and countries. When you begin to create […]

Originally created to connect families and friends, Storybird is designed to have two or more people collaborate on a story, using the images created by various artists. “Storybird promotes imagination, literacy, and self-confidence. Kids who play with words and pictures early in life tend to score higher in cognitive and aptitude tests later on. They […]

Welcome back to a new and challenging school year! I say challenging because according to dictionary.com, ‘challenging’ can mean “difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.” In a nutshell, this somewhat describes all that we do in education. Our jobs are difficult but can be very stimulating to […]

Laura Burney, 4th grade teacher, Discovery STAR Educator and avid (Promethean) ActivBoard teacher at the Loring Elementary School in Sudbury, Massachusetts, was selected to be highlighted on Promethean Planet’s “Teacher Feature” section. The “Planet” is Promethean’s version of the DEN … “created by teachers, for teachers, Promethean Planet is a unique teaching, sharing and support community—your place […]

“Changing the World of Teaching and Learning” The Massachusetts New Literacies Institute, running this June 21-25 at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge, MA, will focus on helping Massachusetts educators prepare students for the online literacy skills required in the 21st century. This week-long session, facilitated by leaders in the […]

MA Attorney General Martha Coakley suggests: “Advise your child that cyberbullying may be a criminal offense. Electronically-communicated threats and willfully and maliciously directing electronic communications at a specific person that seriously alarm that person and would cause a reasonable person to suffer emotional distress are crimes.” (http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/subject/about/bullying.html) Massachusetts is one of only a handful of […]